I know the feeling, and I reset my mind to one of gratitude - I grew up without sufficient food, and I hope to never be faced with that desperation again.
Easy,simple, healthy! Nice meals. I miss my full size freezer, but I insisted in an "american" refrigerator with 3 freezer drawers in my apartment. You have given me some ideas for more dinners- thanks!
Looking forward to this . Had a major meltdown about just this earlier today. Not only sick of cooking but beyond sick to death of making food decisions. Just done with it!
Oh, yes that’s me all over. Deciding what to buy to cook drives me bananas! When I ask my husband what he’d like to eat he just says “anything”. Things have improved lately because one of our grandchildren has come to live with us for a short time and he enjoys helping with menu planning! Another thing that has definitely helped me the last couple of months is watching your videos and taking your advice about menus and sticking to the list when I shop. Even when it comes to teatime and i don’t fancy what’s on the menu, I get a grip and just cook it rather than change the plan. Thank you both for your inspirational videos. 💐
Me too it’s a constant job - buying the food, cooking it and thinking what to cook. Never mind all the time to do it. So batch cooking is the way to go for me as it saves me so much time and money
I agree. In top of that my husband has dementia. Broke his leg eleven months ago and hasn’t walked since then. I became his full time caregiver. I am worn out from decisions. Food….I just do not care!!!
As my sister and I have aged, we share the joke that after 50 or 60 years of putting meals on the table, the thrill of it does wear off. Unfortunately, we both like to eat, so the mission continues.
I batched cooked yesterday. I cook my rice in a 9×13 pan in the oven. I made 8 salmon patties and 8 zucchini patties, cooked in the oven. Made 2 large sausage & mushroom pizzas. And while the oven was hot I made 24 pumpkin muffins. Ate 2 slices of pizza for dinner and put all the rest in the freezer. I found it so hard just cooking for 1. Its easy to fall into a routine of just eating a quick bowl of cereal or a PBJ sandwich. Not healthy long term. So I make sure theres lots of different meals ready in my freezer.
Good for you; taking the time and making the effort to make appetizing, nutritious meals for “just you!” I worked in Home Care with seniors for years. Poor health due largely to falling into the “sugared tea and buttered toast” habit is an ongoing struggle. But I can certainly understand how it happens. As can we all, right?
Well done, I know it's hard. I've found the same thing now there is only me. I was cooking for 3 of us 18 months ago (lost my mum & husband). I currently don't have a kitchen😂 I'm having my house renovated. So I'm cooking (juggling!) with small appliances on a table in my lounge, it's amazing what you can cook in an air fryer. My best tool is my large slow cooker (crock pot) I make at least one batch of casserole, stew or soup each week, eat one & freeze single portions of the rest - it warms my room up too, whilst I'm waiting for my new heating to be finished. T.x
Oh, Jane, you made me remember what my mother always told me. "If you dread a job, do it first, then you won't have to dread it anymore." I have been feeling "kitchen fatigue" as well. This week, I have tried to serve dishes that use some of the items I need to use quickly. I just used the last of our sweet potatoes we raised last year. We will harvest this year's crop in about three or four weeks, just prior to our normal first frost date. Your food always looks so yummy and gives me inspiration to get in the kitchen, even when I don't want to. Thanks so much for your videos of encouragement.
Your comment reminds me of something I got from "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," namely, that you can do almost anything for about 10 seconds. Commit to powering through those first 10 seconds, and that will often be motivation enough to continue.
Jane and Mike, I enjoy your videos. I really appreciate today’s video. I sometimes find everything that you accomplish somewhat intimidating to me. The honesty of this video was like a breath of fresh air. The realness of Jane talking about her frugal and food fatigue was perfect for me. I feel the same. We are hopefully in the last two days of 100 degree weather in Oklahoma for this year. I am just, plain ole tired. I need cooler days to recharge myself. Blessings to all.
I totally get what you are saying about cooking. Yes. It’s a lot of planning and preparing. But there days I cook soup, stew, etc. easy meals at its best. Tasty and flavorful . My husband understands . Married for 42 years with this guy. Sometimes, just pasta recipes. The easy affordable and tasty meals . Yes, you do get fatigue about cooking. But.. no one else will do it. Thanks
Thanks for this reminder. My husband and I are also debt and mortgage free and living our version of our frugal lifestyle. We make all our meals, beverages and snacks at home. I know exactly what it is to have fatigue from meal prep or even just sometimes warming something up, or even packing a snack to go. Sometimes it just all feels Little bit too much. It’s important to remember why we’re doing these things and then I don’t mind so much. 😊 Great video and your meals look delicious… I’m especially curious about your fish pie. I think my husband would love that.
Thank goodness its not just me, I did my batch cooking this week, not as much as yours but 2, cottage pies, 2 Bolognese sauces, 2 Minced beef and onion pies and 6 portions of spiced pumpkin soups
@@RedbushTea1 oh I can understand that . Whilst I usually love to cook for others, if I were alone I doubt I would cook more than occasionally , just for me.
Yep, I wish someone would just give me a list of meals each week. Something different and inspired. I'm so bored of thinking what to eat. It sounds pathetic, I know, but it's the truth and frankly there's so much more to spend my time on than thinking what to cook.
Another TH-cam channel suggested keeping a list handy (maybe on the inside of a kitchen cupboard door?) of 10 meals that you know “inside out and backwards” that you can make without a recipe. I thought that was a genius idea so I sat down to make my list of ten recipes. I ended up with thirty! So, I could have a month wth no repeats if I were determined enough (and organized enough!) Sticking with recipes I know well saves me the aggravation of adding a cookbook, and all that goes into that, into the mix when I’m already completely apathetic about cooking. I don’t always use my list of recipes but it is helpful to have it around.
I cook daily, sometimes we'll eat leftovers the next day. I tried batch cooking and will probably use it more in the winter when I make more soups, stews, pies etc. I do order Chinese food when I have cooking fatigue, it used to be twice a week, now it's about once a month, we get the lunch special dishes, spend about $20 and it's part of our food budget.
If I have the energy, I will also make what I have deemed "favorites with a twist." These are foods we have come to love as adults, quite often foods that are still relatively new to our palates but are easy and inexpensive to cook. For instance, neither my husband nor I grew up eating much Indian food, but since then we've learned to make a lot of dishes from the subcontinent, mostly because of folks on the internet. Delicious, nourishing, easy to make, often made from very inexpensive ingredients such as legumes, potatoes, and other fresh vegetables in season. We will do the same thing with a couple of Japanese recipes including nikujaga, which appeals immensely to my husband's meat-and-potatoes-loving heart. As you've pointed out, many soups can be successfully frozen and thawed out later. Pairing a premade soup with a quick, freshly made grilled cheese sandwich is one of our go-to meals in the winter.
I always cooking at home 365 days . Only every 2 to 3 years eat out for some special fests . Cooking never makes me sick , but sometimes the put out of the dishes and put on thectable....Stuff out of the frige and put in , to feel up the dishwasher and emty it out 😅that makes me sometimes crazy and sick🤢😁😂😂
Delicious!! Yes, I cook and bake from scratch, it is tiring. Sometimes I just throw frozen pizza and veg in oven. Thank you, so much, Dolly Mary, Jane and Mike. Have a great day.
Cooking fatigue is VERY real! I am 64 and have been cooking for 55 years since my mother passed away when I was young. Sometimes (usually in the fall months) I am really into cooking (I think we all are). Long about March fatigue really kicks in until it's time for summer salads and fruits. On a different note, the photos with Dolly and Mary are gorgeous, particularly the one with the sun setting behind one of the girls. Picture postcard beautiful! ❤️🐾❤️🐾
Anything done daily can become a grind but batch cooking does help a lot. Make a mess once and eat many times. I like the way you roasted the veg for soup but it was still thick. Saves space in freezer. It even helps to brown minced beef and freeze in portions for making meals later. Defrosts quickly since fat is gone and makes chili or meat sauce a quick meal to assemble
Thanks so much for your honesty. I am going through this phase at the moment. I actually enjoy making new recipes so that can help me to get out of a rut sometimes.
Yep, instant pot or slow cooker or air fryer are my go to when i feel i am in a rut! Also when i am sick of cooking i make a cooked egg sandwich with fresh spinach! I love cottage pie yum! Loved your video today. It has inspired me to get motivated with clean up!
This is me right now! I'm in some cooking and kitchen fatigue. Thankfully my spouse will step in, and he's a creative, so he will throw something together.
as you say 'its cost you a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of hassle' but boy you have saved a great deal of money and banked free time for the future - yes cooking fatigue is real, I will batch cook more now the Autumn is here and nights drawing in, I try to keep it for a miserable day when I wouldnt want to be out anyway - kudos Jane, a job well done - my old cookery teacher from over 40 Years ago (Mrs Greedy, I kid you not) said Cottage Pie was made with beef, Shepherds Pie was made with lamb - another great video from Team frugal
I don’t mind cooking but always make extra servings for the freezer 😊 This saves time and there is always a meal on ice. Thank you Jane and Mike for another good video, pats too the pooches 👍✔️
I hear you, Jane! We all get cooking fatigue at some point. For me, since I don’t have enough freezer space to batch cook entire meals, when I’m lazy I will make pizza with leftover meats and veg or a three ingredient crockpot meal (like sausage and peppers). No sides, nothing fancy, as little work as possible. Congrats on getting it done!
I did some batch cooking this week -- red beans and rice with extra veggies and a big casserole dish of peach-berry baked oatmeal, all portioned up for the freezer now. Having breakfast and lunch squared away for a week feels like a gift to my frazzled self.
@@rebeccatidwell7397 Sure thing! I grease a lidded 2.5 quart casserole dish and set the oven to 375 degrees F. Put two cups of fresh, canned or frozen fruit in the bottom of the casserole dish. Mix two cups of old fashioned oats, 3/4 cup of wheat bran, 1 teaspoon each salt and your preferred baking spice , and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a big bowl. Add two cups of milk (I use almond milk), stir well and pour the mixture over the fruit. Spread it out evenly, put the lid on the casserole dish and bake for 40 minutes. Take the lid off and see it needs to bake uncovered for a few more minutes to brown. This is not a very sweet dish, but you can add butter, more sugar or syrup when you heat it up. If you don't have wheat bran, just use a half cup of oatmeal in place of it. For a higher protein dish, beat two eggs into the milk. It freezes great portioned up and is quite filling.
Yes I get kitchen fatigue . I like to cook but sometimes I get tired of figuring out what to make and think it would be nice to let somebody else figure it out do the work and serve the food … totally get your frustration girl .
What a great realistic video. We all get fed up of cooking at times and it used to drive me mad that when I was married it was always down to me to plan and do the cooking. Then I divorced him and he had to do everything himself!
Felt like this a few days ago, and then realized the more I get prepared the less I will feel like this later on. I will just keep right on working towards being able not to cook for a number of nights.
Yep, i got a dose of cpoking fatigue the othet day. All i fancied was peanut butter toast. My adult son was very understanding- he didnt fancy the one meal i had left to microwave so he cooked homself black pudding, tomatoes, eggs and a piece of bread. He followed this with canned peaches and evap. Milk. Society/adverts/ you tube cooks really make us over complicate things sometimes ! I never forget when Jane once said that "egg and chips is still a meal" ' i now try to do one ' egg and chips' meal per week.
I'm a single professional working woman in my 50s. Canned good soup (ready to serve, not condensed), eggs (with tomatoes, mushrooms, sweet peppers), sandwiches, pasta, microwaved baked potatoes are my go-tos. I have a few dishes I like to cook, but I just don't feel like cooking after a very stressful day at work. In colder weather, I make soups out of canned beans and canned/frozen veggies.
I was feeling a bit of cooking fatigue lately so I really enjoyed this video. I agree whole -heartedly, the sooner you do a dreaded task, the sooner it is over. I am grateful I live where there is a change of seasons because I cook different meals depending on the season. Looking forward to soups, lasagnas and casseroles, pumpkin pie and muffins.
You are not alone in getting fed up with cooking! Those are the days I am grateful for those meals I have in the freezer. When that fatigue hits me, I get inspired when I watch you and other frugal cooks prepare meals as well as browse through my cookbooks. But sometimes we give in and head to our Costco and have a hotdog and beverage for $1.50 each. I tell my husband I am a cheap date. Thanks for all the work you put into your videos. I never miss them.
Last week I did different starches, vegetables and proteins, then mixed and matched. It's all gone and I have to do it again. Definitely not in the mood. Since meals won't magically appear in my kitchen, there's no choice. 😅
Just about every area of life has been frantic recently, so a sandwich has often been all I could manage to do. Kitchen fatigue in extremis. I must try to batch cook when I find the energy (it took 2 goes to watch the video today, fell asleep half way through the first time).
Fabulous vlog today. So grateful for batch cooking as this week I've had COVID for the first time and no energy for cooking or the appetite, will have a couple of batch cooking sessions over the next couple of weekends, once I feel more human. Like you I feel we all get fed up with cooking and coming up with amazing meals, so batch cooking helps with that.
Yes Jane it’s totally normal to feel this when it takes almost a day to fill your freezer with meals. The upside though is so well worth the effort and money & energy savings. I live alone but I still batch cook - so inviting friends for dinner become easy peasy. I also treat cooking as an exercise in self-care and like a form of meditation 🧘 which I find helps me get through the task more smoothly. And…….that cup of tea 🫖 at the end is shear Bliss. Thanks for sharing Jane. Bon Appétit ❤
Get cooking fatigue a lot. I don't batch cook, but I do have a cook once eat at least twice menu plan. I really need to do a batch cooking day sometime, or even a 2 day batch cook.
Yes , food fatigue real . Still very hot where i live so even doing groceries is a task - we try to cook 2 big meals on Sunday or Monday and we eat one Monday and Wednesday and the other one Tuesday and Thursday- then salads and sandwiches. We do the best we can !
So get this. As it gets darker earlier and colder, all I want to do is sleep till Spring, I have already started to freezer bank meals by cooking double and freezing in portions. I have lasagne already sorted and this weekend it will be sausage casseroles and anything else I can bulk cook during the week I will do that too. I used to spend the day like you do but currently am unwell so small steps get me there as long as I plan ahead.
All looks lovely Jane. 😋 Just think, some easy meals ahead now. 😃🙌 Yes, it's the clearing up afterwards that's a pain as well, but it's always a nice feeling when all is cooled, put in the freezer and the kitchen is tidy again. This week, I lifted out my soup maker for the first time this season and have frozen some vegetable soup. Will do some batch cooking when I come back from holiday. What I have done, is chop up some leftover onions before they go off and frozen them, uncooked, ready for use in casseroles etc. 🤗
Oh my you live in a gorgeous area of France💖 On to the subject at hand - I get fed up of cooking a fair amount and I also batch cook, though as a whole I do love cooking and baking but there is just me so it does get a bit tiresome some times so totally hear you on this. Your meals look amazing even the mushroom soup (I am not a fan of mushroom soup) but all of your meals look amazing. I look forward to your next video on Sunday I believe - have a lovely weekend and Dolly and Mary look as cute as a button as always💖
Yes, I get fed up with cooking! Our daughter is home alone this week as her daughter is on holiday. Asked her over to dinner tomorrow, she said she would cook as she knows I don't like entertaining 😀 We have been lucky with a bumper crop of tomatoes and aubergine in our poly tunnel so have made lots of pasta sauce and tomato soup for the freezer.
Totally agree. I'm the one doing all the cooking and it gets tiring, especially when most of the time the only response I get to the qusetion of what to have for dinner is "don't know" or some other unhelpful thing, so I end up having to look through the recipe books for ideas. Earlier this week though, I made 4 portions of a bean and root vegetable pie (I ate the 5th) an 2 portions of a spicy rice with beans and sweetcorn (someone ate the 3rd). So now there are still a few more meals left after some got eaten during the week. At some point I'll probably make a vegan macaroni cheese and another pasta dish. Not sure though, beause I forgot to pick up some of the ingredients fer the other pasta dish (sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and zucchinis I think). I do have enough ingredients to make some lentil burgers and a soup, because I also have more lentils than I know what to do with. Oh I use takeaway containers to store single portions of meals in the freezer. The main thing I don't like is the cleaning afterwards, so it can be helpful to listen to music or videos or something in the background. Even the news is not too bad. My budgy can see me in the kitchen from the living-room, so apparently he sits and watches me.
Well done! Will be doing a big batch of different soups such as butternut squash and leek , carrot and chicken this Sunday while watching your episodes again so u can get more ads revenue so I can freezer ready meals. Made a chicken broth overnight in my slow cooker so the broth is ready to make for the soups. I add red lentils or white beans to the butternut squash and purée the soup so it has more protein making it a full meal with a piece of bread or salad. Meatloaf is also a good idea when I have lots of mince in the freezer changes it up from my usual cottage pie. I always add some grated veggies( ie grated zucchini some red peppers etc ) to my meatloaf to stretch it then I just have to heat up some frozen peas and roast some potatoes while cooking the meatloaf to make a nice meal. Leftover meatloaf makes great sandwiches. Especially on cold winter days if I decide to batch cook I will make several dishes to cook in the oven to fully utilize it. I often make meatballs also and then add a few to a soup to also make it a full meal when I just want to heat up something quick. I also find that a small baked treat at the end of a frugal meal makes it nice and changes it up. A baked apple in the fall baked when the oven is turned off while I am having my meal is a popular one for me. Have a great weekend Jane and Mike and the doggies!
Been batch cooking today in the slow cooker while hubby baked bread, soup rolls and naan breads for the freezer. Sometimes though even getting a batch cooked meal out of the freezer is too much effort for me (or more likely I've forgotten to do it 😵💫.....)...so here's my store cupboard go to: - a tin of vegetable soup added to a tin of red kidney beans in chilli sauce. Heat and enjoy. Filling and tasty. At current Tesco prices this is £1.95 for two meals for two desperate people.
I know what cooking fatigue is. After cooking at home for decades for my family, and trying to implement nutritious and varied food most of the time, I have to force myself to do any cooking at all now. I don’t eat processed foods so it’s a lot of raw food for me. And I don’t have enough freezer space to batch cook anyway.
I can totally relate, but the feeling when its done is worth it. I make up a soup with all the left over stuff in the fridge plus beans or pulses most weekends and eat it for my work meals for the week. Most weekends im pushing myself to do it, but just pulling the pre packed soup containers out each night to defrost feels like a luxury and a way to look after my mental, physical and financial health all at once.
Sometimes I saute up ground beef and freeze it in half pound packages. When I want to make hamburger veggie soup or shepherd's pie or chili with burger and beef, I just have to pull out the already cooked minced beef from the freezer. Cuts cooking time in half. Though I love to cook, sometimes it gets old, if you know what I mean.
Cooking fatigue is definitely a thing and those of us who cook will experience it. I get fed up with not just cooking but thinking of what to cook. It is warming up here in Australian so salads with some form of protein will soon be a staple. Whenever I think, yes I have had enough of this, let’s go out, I stop, take a deep breath and it then turns to no, keep going as the money we would use to go out can be put towards our yearly month long overseas holiday 😊
😅 Would I have gone down the family route all those years ago, if I had realised it meant, all that planning, prep and clearing up, probably not; but here we are plodding on, food fatigue is real, and now we are staring down an energy price increase, loss of heating allowance and apparently only 98 days to bl**** Chr*******, oh joy, oh well moan over, kitchen here I come, waste not, want not. TTFN x
@@AnnetteCulley I’ve mixed feelings about the heating allowance. I really feel that the pension is much too low and really should be higher. The heating allowance? That should be paid to all pensioners just on the state pension should get the heating allowance but paid by the energy companies.
I totally agree with you Jane, it's just when you feel a bit down and you get news like this, you just think WHAT NOW, in the meantime, I have rejigged the budget, moved a bit here and there, you know how it is; we will be alright, thanks to your sensible advice , we have savings and sinking funds. We have been broke, we are not now, and the mortgage is paid off so, we will have another cup of tea and keep smiling (even if occasionally through gritted teeth)😊
Cooking fatigue hits frequently, especially as I also make MIL meals (101 years old still lives independently with our help). So if im using the oven I make at least 2 different meals. Great seeing all the reduced stickers on your ingredients, I love a bargain.
Everything looked so tasty 😊. I have always loved cooking and that came in handy raising 3 kids but now that they are all grown and have their own places sometimes I find cooking for just the 2 of us a chore which is wierd. I do some batch cooking and it does save time and also money on those days when I can't be hothered but I think watching you that I need to up my game 😅. Great video 😊
Oh Jane, I am right there with you. Tired of trying to be creative. I am emptying my refrigerator and it's freezer over the next month, to completely empty. We will be on an extended trip an don't want to risk anything spoiling if we have a power outage. I pulled out grape leaves from the freezer, and 1/2 pound of ground turkey and 2 beef patties, and chives from the refrigerator and a cup of rice and greek herbs, some granulated garlic. I rolled that mix into the leaves filling my crockpot halfway up, poured 2 quarts of chicken stock over them and a 1/3 cup of lemon juice and let it cook on high for 4 hours. Glad I struggled through doing it, because I woke with a toothache today and by time I finished harvesting my last bed of celery from the garden and got it washed and chopped and put away, my toothache was intense. So root canal in my future, my husband has food for a few days, while I sip on broth😊. Your menu ideas look delicious 😋, but for the next few weeks, it'll be a liquid diet for me. Thank goodness hubby has pasta leftovers for tonight and grape leaves for the days after.
Since my husband retired, I gradually lost the ability to fry things properly, except eggs. So I just hand him the spatula and do something else. It is more the 'deciding what to cook' that gets me. And the dishes. I HATE doing dishes. I have leftover lentil soup, pasta sauce, minestrone in the freezer, and pressure canned beef stew, chicken with vegetables and a sweet and sour cabbage with sausage that I made big batches of, in the pantry. Your dishes look so appetizing....I really miss the cheese and butter that just takes things over the top.
Thanks for the video. I sure do get cooking fatigue! Mmmm might try a Shepard pie for the freezer(never froze one before. ) Will add to my batch cooking list. Cream soups might be a try too. Have a nice rest now and enjoy what is left of your day.
I totally get the cooking fatigue! I have health issues and nothing tastes right. My hubby is a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I end up cooking something he will eat and something I can eat. I'm tired a lot of the time and this gets overwhelming.
I definitely get kitchen fatigue. not so much for cooking as for cleaning up after! My concern right now is that after working from home for 8 years my employer is requiring me to go back to the office at least 3 days a week at the end of October. You've given me some good ideas for batch cooking in order to have easy dinners ready when I get home from the office, so thanks for this video. I was wondering...do you reuse the foil pans you used for the cottage pie and shepherd's pie?
We have been batch cooking for about 8 years now. We have about 12 meals that we eat on rotation - amazingly we don’t get bored of them - we eat them 4 nights a week, eat at my mother and father in laws once a week and try different things of a weekend. It saves us so much money and time xx
@@ainemurphy4607 the usual easy things, spaghetti bolognaise, chilli con carne, sweet n sour chicken, paella, ginger and prawn fried rice, lamb rogan josh, classic chicken curry, lasagne, cottage pie, mousakka, chicken jalfrezi, smoky sausage and bean casserole, creamy chicken curry, Mexican sausage pie - nothing fancy - all can be frozen - we double the recipes and usually end up with 8 meals of each which we rotate xx
My husband passed away last month. I’m having a hard time adjusting to cooking for one and to not having to follow his "can’t eat the same protein two days in a row" rule. I have a lot of soups in the freezer, but they are all in quart size containers. I’ll need to adjust that to pint size servings as time goes on. My freezers and pantry are very well stocked, so I need to just eat out of those for a good long while. I really need to get back to meal planning, too, because I’ve been quite lazy about it and have been eating out too much over the last 6-8 weeks while he was in the hospital.
Definitely get sick of cooking, I’m 70 and been cooking since I was a child, I do not like take away food so just carry on, I always make extra so often have meals in the freezer for wen I can’t be bothered, an omelette and salad is one of my lazy day meals nice and quick and easy
Yes, I cook all my meals. Cooking for 1 is a bit of a challenge sometimes - you may have lots of leftovers or - don't make a certain dish because you have to buy a 4-serving size of an item rarely used but you only need 1 serving. I have a small garden and I enjoy eating what I grow. The plus side of cooking my own meals is I think my food tastes better :-). I do cook extra to freeze for a future meal sometimes too!
I tried a simply cook box (because the first one was free) you get the herbs and spices in little tubs. You have to add meat & vegetables but all the recipes I chose have very basic ingredients. Lots of the meals are gluten free and cook within 20 minutes. Each recipe made 4 portions. I then tried to cancel my subscription and got 50% off my next 4 boxes (costing £5 per box). The meals were different from anything I usually cook because I don’t want to buy loads of ingredients for 1 recipe. A couple of examples were beef rendang and Balinese chicken
I cook all my meals at home, as well. Maybe only eat out 2-3 times a year. And I would 100% get cooking fatigue if not for my occasional batch-cooking days for freezer meals. This weekend I'm planning to make more bean and veggie burritos I can freeze individually in the freezer. Works great for a quick lunch in the middle of the work day when I don't have easy leftovers for lunch.
I definitely get tired of cooking. My older son is autisic with sensory disorders. My husband and younger son are picky too ( probably some sensory issues, also). When I branch out on recipes, chances are they won't want to eat it, and it gets very boring to cook for them. Freezer meals help though.
We try (note the word try!!) to batch cook monthly,so Monday to Friday is catered for,and it’s freezer to microwave and easy. Only leaves Saturday and Sunday to mix it up a bit!!!! Once we move to France will be interesting to see if we can stick to it
I would love to batch cook but I am hopeless at the defrosting/cooking from frozen and knowing what should be completely defrosted before cooking how long it will take to defrost and how to reheat properly. Any tips would be useful. Love the channel.
I've always thought I cook home made. One of our family has developed a serious tree nut allergy. In looking at ingredients, oh my. Sauces and additives are full of allergens. So I'm now making everything from scratch, sauces, herbs etc. Had no idea what was in food.
@@LauraMacMillan-el2kc my initial start up will cost a little. I'm purging all canned sauces and spices out of my home. The fillers in this stuff is awful.
100% spot on Jane! I also cook from scratch and get fed up some days, especially when I am into a sewing project and must stop to cook....arrgghh so I take 1 day and cook at least 10 different meals for the freezer. Good job Jane so glad I am not the only one that just gets sick of cooking everyday
I have a fussy eater so l have to make two types of food , batch cooking is a drag making the food l enjoy can be difficult and getting food bargains is must as we are long retired on basic pension ,so it's a way of life for me ,you are right about the effort it takes to produce even basic meals .have a good weekend and thankyou 😊
I hate cooking so much. I’ve been doing it most days for over 40 years and have hated every single day of it. The days I don’t cook I prepare the day before as I work 12 hour shifts. I prefer cooking now that I’m a widow as my late husband was so fussy but still hate it. I really resent the amount of time I have spent cooking over the years. I wish I didn’t care about my health and ate ready meals etc. I know it’s a first world problem but would rather clean up poo (which I spend a lot of time doing in my work in healthcare) than cook 😂 😂
I know the feeling, and I reset my mind to one of gratitude - I grew up without sufficient food, and I hope to never be faced with that desperation again.
Well said
@@bria2596 thats a great attitude to have and will make me more mindful about complaining about food. Xx
Easy,simple, healthy! Nice meals. I miss my full size freezer, but I insisted in an "american" refrigerator with 3 freezer drawers in my apartment. You have given me some ideas for more dinners- thanks!
Looking forward to this . Had a major meltdown about just this earlier today. Not only sick of cooking but beyond sick to death of making food decisions. Just done with it!
Yep
Oh, yes that’s me all over. Deciding what to buy to cook drives me bananas! When I ask my husband what he’d like to eat he just says “anything”. Things have improved lately because one of our grandchildren has come to live with us for a short time and he enjoys helping with menu planning! Another thing that has definitely helped me the last couple of months is watching your videos and taking your advice about menus and sticking to the list when I shop. Even when it comes to teatime and i don’t fancy what’s on the menu, I get a grip and just cook it rather than change the plan. Thank you both for your inspirational videos. 💐
Me too it’s a constant job - buying the food, cooking it and thinking what to cook. Never mind all the time to do it. So batch cooking is the way to go for me as it saves me so much time and money
I agree. In top of that my husband has dementia. Broke his leg eleven months ago and hasn’t walked since then. I became his full time caregiver. I am worn out from decisions. Food….I just do not care!!!
@@LeAnneTraybsza sorry to hear that
As my sister and I have aged, we share the joke that after 50 or 60 years of putting meals on the table, the thrill of it does wear off. Unfortunately, we both like to eat, so the mission continues.
We keep trying
I batched cooked yesterday. I cook my rice in a 9×13 pan in the oven. I made 8 salmon patties and 8 zucchini patties, cooked in the oven. Made 2 large sausage & mushroom pizzas. And while the oven was hot I made 24 pumpkin muffins. Ate 2 slices of pizza for dinner and put all the rest in the freezer. I found it so hard just cooking for 1. Its easy to fall into a routine of just eating a quick bowl of cereal or a PBJ sandwich. Not healthy long term. So I make sure theres lots of different meals ready in my freezer.
That’s a very efficient way to use both your time and energy (and oven energy, too)!
You did great
Good for you; taking the time and making the effort to make appetizing, nutritious meals for “just you!”
I worked in Home Care with seniors for years. Poor health due largely to falling into the “sugared tea and buttered
toast” habit is an ongoing struggle.
But I can certainly understand how it happens. As can we all, right?
Well done, I know it's hard. I've found the same thing now there is only me. I was cooking for 3 of us 18 months ago (lost my mum & husband). I currently don't have a kitchen😂 I'm having my house renovated. So I'm cooking (juggling!) with small appliances on a table in my lounge, it's amazing what you can cook in an air fryer. My best tool is my large slow cooker (crock pot) I make at least one batch of casserole, stew or soup each week, eat one & freeze single portions of the rest - it warms my room up too, whilst I'm waiting for my new heating to be finished. T.x
Oh, Jane, you made me remember what my mother always told me. "If you dread a job, do it first, then you won't have to dread it anymore." I have been feeling "kitchen fatigue" as well. This week, I have tried to serve dishes that use some of the items I need to use quickly. I just used the last of our sweet potatoes we raised last year. We will harvest this year's crop in about three or four weeks, just prior to our normal first frost date. Your food always looks so yummy and gives me inspiration to get in the kitchen, even when I don't want to. Thanks so much for your videos of encouragement.
@@jewelgaither1504 I share that opinion
Your comment reminds me of something I got from "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," namely, that you can do almost anything for about 10 seconds. Commit to powering through those first 10 seconds, and that will often be motivation enough to continue.
You have such a wise mother!
Jane and Mike,
I enjoy your videos. I really appreciate today’s video. I sometimes find everything that you accomplish somewhat intimidating to me. The honesty of this video was like a breath of fresh air. The realness of Jane talking about her frugal and food fatigue was perfect for me. I feel the same.
We are hopefully in the last two days of 100 degree weather in Oklahoma for this year. I am just, plain ole tired. I need cooler days to recharge myself.
Blessings to all.
Thanks so much
I totally get what you are saying about cooking. Yes. It’s a lot of planning and preparing. But there days I cook soup, stew, etc. easy meals at its best. Tasty and flavorful . My husband understands . Married for 42 years with this guy. Sometimes, just pasta recipes. The easy affordable and tasty meals . Yes, you do get fatigue about cooking. But.. no one else will do it. Thanks
So true!
Thanks for this reminder. My husband and I are also debt and mortgage free and living our version of our frugal lifestyle. We make all our meals, beverages and snacks at home. I know exactly what it is to have fatigue from meal prep or even just sometimes warming something up, or even packing a snack to go. Sometimes it just all feels Little bit too much. It’s important to remember why we’re doing these things and then I don’t mind so much. 😊
Great video and your meals look delicious… I’m especially curious about your fish pie. I think my husband would love that.
I fully understand the stress of the planning and cooking meals on a day to day basis
Thank goodness its not just me, I did my batch cooking this week, not as much as yours but 2, cottage pies, 2 Bolognese sauces, 2 Minced beef and onion pies and 6 portions of spiced pumpkin soups
It's everyone
Yep cooking can be a pain especially if you live alone!
@@RedbushTea1 oh I can understand that . Whilst I usually love to cook for others, if I were alone I doubt I would cook more than occasionally , just for me.
Yep, I wish someone would just give me a list of meals each week. Something different and inspired. I'm so bored of thinking what to eat. It sounds pathetic, I know, but it's the truth and frankly there's so much more to spend my time on than thinking what to cook.
That was my point, I didn't bother with anything new or exciting just meals we eat
Another TH-cam channel suggested keeping a list handy (maybe on the inside of a kitchen cupboard door?) of 10 meals that you know “inside out and backwards” that you can make without a recipe. I thought that was a genius idea so I sat down to make my list of ten recipes. I ended up with thirty! So, I could have a month wth no repeats if I were determined enough (and organized enough!)
Sticking with recipes I know well saves me the aggravation of adding a cookbook, and all that goes into that, into the mix when I’m already completely apathetic about cooking.
I don’t always use my list of recipes but it is helpful to have it around.
I cook daily, sometimes we'll eat leftovers the next day. I tried batch cooking and will probably use it more in the winter when I make more soups, stews, pies etc. I do order Chinese food when I have cooking fatigue, it used to be twice a week, now it's about once a month, we get the lunch special dishes, spend about $20 and it's part of our food budget.
@@rachelkieffer8707 there's no takeaway here.
If I have the energy, I will also make what I have deemed "favorites with a twist." These are foods we have come to love as adults, quite often foods that are still relatively new to our palates but are easy and inexpensive to cook. For instance, neither my husband nor I grew up eating much Indian food, but since then we've learned to make a lot of dishes from the subcontinent, mostly because of folks on the internet. Delicious, nourishing, easy to make, often made from very inexpensive ingredients such as legumes, potatoes, and other fresh vegetables in season. We will do the same thing with a couple of Japanese recipes including nikujaga, which appeals immensely to my husband's meat-and-potatoes-loving heart.
As you've pointed out, many soups can be successfully frozen and thawed out later. Pairing a premade soup with a quick, freshly made grilled cheese sandwich is one of our go-to meals in the winter.
Thanks so much
Yes, I get tired of cooking ! Like you I try to have some meals in the freezer to give myself a day or a week off!
Exactly!!
I always cooking at home 365 days . Only every 2 to 3 years eat out for some special fests . Cooking never makes me sick , but sometimes the put out of the dishes and put on thectable....Stuff out of the frige and put in , to feel up the dishwasher and emty it out 😅that makes me sometimes crazy and sick🤢😁😂😂
Delicious!! Yes, I cook and bake from scratch, it is tiring. Sometimes I just throw frozen pizza and veg in oven. Thank you, so much, Dolly Mary, Jane and Mike. Have a great day.
Cooking fatigue is VERY real! I am 64 and have been cooking for 55 years since my mother passed away when I was young. Sometimes (usually in the fall months) I am really into cooking (I think we all are). Long about March fatigue really kicks in until it's time for summer salads and fruits. On a different note, the photos with Dolly and Mary are gorgeous, particularly the one with the sun setting behind one of the girls. Picture postcard beautiful! ❤️🐾❤️🐾
Thanks
Anything done daily can become a grind but batch cooking does help a lot. Make a mess once and eat many times. I like the way you roasted the veg for soup but it was still thick. Saves space in freezer. It even helps to brown minced beef and freeze in portions for making meals later. Defrosts quickly since fat is gone and makes chili or meat sauce a quick meal to assemble
Thanks so much for your honesty. I am going through this phase at the moment. I actually enjoy making new recipes so that can help me to get out of a rut sometimes.
You are so welcome!
This is such a great video! Everyone goes through this from time to time.
Glad you think so!
Yep, instant pot or slow cooker or air fryer are my go to when i feel i am in a rut! Also when i am sick of cooking i make a cooked egg sandwich with fresh spinach! I love cottage pie yum! Loved your video today. It has inspired me to get motivated with clean up!
Great idea!!
This is me right now! I'm in some cooking and kitchen fatigue. Thankfully my spouse will step in, and he's a creative, so he will throw something together.
Sounds great!
as you say 'its cost you a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of hassle' but boy you have saved a great deal of money and banked free time for the future - yes cooking fatigue is real, I will batch cook more now the Autumn is here and nights drawing in, I try to keep it for a miserable day when I wouldnt want to be out anyway - kudos Jane, a job well done - my old cookery teacher from over 40 Years ago (Mrs Greedy, I kid you not) said Cottage Pie was made with beef, Shepherds Pie was made with lamb - another great video from Team frugal
Thanks so much
I don’t mind cooking but always make extra servings for the freezer 😊 This saves time and there is always a meal on ice.
Thank you Jane and Mike for another good video, pats too the pooches 👍✔️
Great idea!!
I hear you, Jane! We all get cooking fatigue at some point. For me, since I don’t have enough freezer space to batch cook entire meals, when I’m lazy I will make pizza with leftover meats and veg or a three ingredient crockpot meal (like sausage and peppers). No sides, nothing fancy, as little work as possible. Congrats on getting it done!
Thanks so much
I did some batch cooking this week -- red beans and rice with extra veggies and a big casserole dish of peach-berry baked oatmeal, all portioned up for the freezer now. Having breakfast and lunch squared away for a week feels like a gift to my frazzled self.
the baked oatmeal sounds yummy. can you share a recipe, please? Also, I love the idea of doing this as a gift to yourself.
@@rebeccatidwell7397 Sure thing! I grease a lidded 2.5 quart casserole dish and set the oven to 375 degrees F. Put two cups of fresh, canned or frozen fruit in the bottom of the casserole dish. Mix two cups of old fashioned oats, 3/4 cup of wheat bran, 1 teaspoon each salt and your preferred baking spice , and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a big bowl. Add two cups of milk (I use almond milk), stir well and pour the mixture over the fruit. Spread it out evenly, put the lid on the casserole dish and bake for 40 minutes. Take the lid off and see it needs to bake uncovered for a few more minutes to brown.
This is not a very sweet dish, but you can add butter, more sugar or syrup when you heat it up. If you don't have wheat bran, just use a half cup of oatmeal in place of it. For a higher protein dish, beat two eggs into the milk. It freezes great portioned up and is quite filling.
Your food always looks delicious! What a lot of effort, thank you!!
My pleasure 😊
Yes I get kitchen fatigue . I like to cook but sometimes I get tired of figuring out what to make and think it would be nice to let somebody else figure it out do the work and serve the food … totally get your frustration girl .
Thank you for this video, Jane. I certainly know all about cooking fatigue.
You are so welcome!
What a great realistic video. We all get fed up of cooking at times and it used to drive me mad that when I was married it was always down to me to plan and do the cooking. Then I divorced him and he had to do everything himself!
Thanks for watching
That seafood pie looked divine!
It was!
Felt like this a few days ago, and then realized the more I get prepared the less I will feel like this later on. I will just keep right on working towards being able not to cook for a number of nights.
Not long now
Yep, i got a dose of cpoking fatigue the othet day. All i fancied was peanut butter toast. My adult son was very understanding- he didnt fancy the one meal i had left to microwave so he cooked homself black pudding, tomatoes, eggs and a piece of bread. He followed this with canned peaches and evap. Milk. Society/adverts/ you tube cooks really make us over complicate things sometimes !
I never forget when Jane once said that "egg and chips is still a meal" ' i now try to do one ' egg and chips' meal per week.
Still right on that
I'm a single professional working woman in my 50s. Canned good soup (ready to serve, not condensed), eggs (with tomatoes, mushrooms, sweet peppers), sandwiches, pasta, microwaved baked potatoes are my go-tos. I have a few dishes I like to cook, but I just don't feel like cooking after a very stressful day at work. In colder weather, I make soups out of canned beans and canned/frozen veggies.
Sounds great!
Good call on cottage pie instead of lasagna which when fatigued is an utter faff for me!!
I was feeling a bit of cooking fatigue lately so I really enjoyed this video. I agree whole -heartedly, the sooner you do a dreaded task, the sooner it is over. I am grateful I live where there is a change of seasons because I cook different meals depending on the season. Looking forward to soups, lasagnas and casseroles, pumpkin pie and muffins.
I'm so glad
You are not alone in getting fed up with cooking! Those are the days I am grateful for those meals I have in the freezer. When that fatigue hits me, I get inspired when I watch you and other frugal cooks prepare meals as well as browse through my cookbooks. But sometimes we give in and head to our Costco and have a hotdog and beverage for $1.50 each. I tell my husband I am
a cheap date. Thanks for all the work you put into your videos. I never miss them.
Thanks Ruth
Me also...Costco is a joy!
Last week I did different starches, vegetables and proteins, then mixed and matched. It's all gone and I have to do it again. Definitely not in the mood. Since meals won't magically appear in my kitchen, there's no choice. 😅
You got this!
Just about every area of life has been frantic recently, so a sandwich has often been all I could manage to do. Kitchen fatigue in extremis. I must try to batch cook when I find the energy (it took 2 goes to watch the video today, fell asleep half way through the first time).
Thanks for sharing!
Fabulous vlog today. So grateful for batch cooking as this week I've had COVID for the first time and no energy for cooking or the appetite, will have a couple of batch cooking sessions over the next couple of weekends, once I feel more human. Like you I feel we all get fed up with cooking and coming up with amazing meals, so batch cooking helps with that.
You got this!
Yes Jane it’s totally normal to feel this when it takes almost a day to fill your freezer with meals. The upside though is so well worth the effort and money & energy savings. I live alone but I still batch cook - so inviting friends for dinner become easy peasy. I also treat cooking as an exercise in self-care and like a form of meditation 🧘 which I find helps me get through the task more smoothly. And…….that cup of tea 🫖 at the end is shear Bliss. Thanks for sharing Jane. Bon Appétit ❤
Thanks so much
The meals looked yummy!
👍👍👍Icook 50 years Ilike to cook new recipes but the usual food I am tired of to cook!!!
You can do it!
Get cooking fatigue a lot. I don't batch cook, but I do have a cook once eat at least twice menu plan. I really need to do a batch cooking day sometime, or even a 2 day batch cook.
That's great
Yes , food fatigue real . Still very hot where i live so even doing groceries is a task - we try to cook 2 big meals on Sunday or Monday and we eat one Monday and Wednesday and the other one Tuesday and Thursday- then salads and sandwiches. We do the best we can !
So true!
So get this. As it gets darker earlier and colder, all I want to do is sleep till Spring, I have already started to freezer bank meals by cooking double and freezing in portions. I have lasagne already sorted and this weekend it will be sausage casseroles and anything else I can bulk cook during the week I will do that too. I used to spend the day like you do but currently am unwell so small steps get me there as long as I plan ahead.
I hope that you feel better soon!
Sorry to hear that
@@bradlafferty ♥
@@FrugalQueeninFrance ♥ thank you
Yes, I have had cooking fatigue this past week. You are cooking so many delicious dishes, well done Jane ❤
Thanks
All looks lovely Jane. 😋 Just think, some easy meals ahead now. 😃🙌 Yes, it's the clearing up afterwards that's a pain as well, but it's always a nice feeling when all is cooled, put in the freezer and the kitchen is tidy again. This week, I lifted out my soup maker for the first time this season and have frozen some vegetable soup. Will do some batch cooking when I come back from holiday. What I have done, is chop up some leftover onions before they go off and frozen them, uncooked, ready for use in casseroles etc. 🤗
So glad to hear that
Oh my you live in a gorgeous area of France💖 On to the subject at hand - I get fed up of cooking a fair amount and I also batch cook, though as a whole I do love cooking and baking but there is just me so it does get a bit tiresome some times so totally hear you on this. Your meals look amazing even the mushroom soup (I am not a fan of mushroom soup) but all of your meals look amazing. I look forward to your next video on Sunday I believe - have a lovely weekend and Dolly and Mary look as cute as a button as always💖
Thank you
Yes, I get fed up with cooking! Our daughter is home alone this week as her daughter is on holiday. Asked her over to dinner tomorrow, she said she would cook as she knows I don't like entertaining 😀 We have been lucky with a bumper crop of tomatoes and aubergine in our poly tunnel so have made lots of pasta sauce and tomato soup for the freezer.
Love that!
Totally agree. I'm the one doing all the cooking and it gets tiring, especially when most of the time the only response I get to the qusetion of what to have for dinner is "don't know" or some other unhelpful thing, so I end up having to look through the recipe books for ideas. Earlier this week though, I made 4 portions of a bean and root vegetable pie (I ate the 5th) an 2 portions of a spicy rice with beans and sweetcorn (someone ate the 3rd). So now there are still a few more meals left after some got eaten during the week. At some point I'll probably make a vegan macaroni cheese and another pasta dish. Not sure though, beause I forgot to pick up some of the ingredients fer the other pasta dish (sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and zucchinis I think). I do have enough ingredients to make some lentil burgers and a soup, because I also have more lentils than I know what to do with.
Oh I use takeaway containers to store single portions of meals in the freezer. The main thing I don't like is the cleaning afterwards, so it can be helpful to listen to music or videos or something in the background. Even the news is not too bad. My budgy can see me in the kitchen from the living-room, so apparently he sits and watches me.
Thanks for sharing
I can completely relate to this. It’s exhausting thinking what to have for tea every night.
That Beef Bourguignon looks yummy.
Well done! Will be doing a big batch of different soups such as butternut squash and leek , carrot and chicken this Sunday while watching your episodes again so u can get more ads revenue so I can freezer ready meals. Made a chicken broth overnight in my slow cooker so the broth is ready to make for the soups. I add red lentils or white beans to the butternut squash and purée the soup so it has more protein making it a full meal with a piece of bread or salad. Meatloaf is also a good idea when I have lots of mince in the freezer changes it up from my usual cottage pie. I always add some grated veggies( ie grated zucchini some red peppers etc ) to my meatloaf to stretch it then I just have to heat up some frozen peas and roast some potatoes while cooking the meatloaf to make a nice meal. Leftover meatloaf makes great sandwiches. Especially on cold winter days if I decide to batch cook I will make several dishes to cook in the oven to fully utilize it. I often make meatballs also and then add a few to a soup to also make it a full meal when I just want to heat up something quick. I also find that a small baked treat at the end of a frugal meal makes it nice and changes it up. A baked apple in the fall baked when the oven is turned off while I am having my meal is a popular one for me. Have a great weekend Jane and Mike and the doggies!
Thank you
Been batch cooking today in the slow cooker while hubby baked bread, soup rolls and naan breads for the freezer.
Sometimes though even getting a batch cooked meal out of the freezer is too much effort for me (or more likely I've forgotten to do it 😵💫.....)...so here's my store cupboard go to: - a tin of vegetable soup added to a tin of red kidney beans in chilli sauce. Heat and enjoy. Filling and tasty. At current Tesco prices this is £1.95 for two meals for two desperate people.
It can get dull
I know what cooking fatigue is. After cooking at home for decades for my family, and trying to implement nutritious and varied food most of the time, I have to force myself to do any cooking at all now. I don’t eat processed foods so it’s a lot of raw food for me. And I don’t have enough freezer space to batch cook anyway.
That's tough
I can totally relate, but the feeling when its done is worth it. I make up a soup with all the left over stuff in the fridge plus beans or pulses most weekends and eat it for my work meals for the week. Most weekends im pushing myself to do it, but just pulling the pre packed soup containers out each night to defrost feels like a luxury and a way to look after my mental, physical and financial health all at once.
Sometimes I saute up ground beef and freeze it in half pound packages. When I want to make hamburger veggie soup or shepherd's pie or chili with burger and beef, I just have to pull out the already cooked minced beef from the freezer. Cuts cooking time in half. Though I love to cook, sometimes it gets old, if you know what I mean.
Thanks, good tip
Cooking fatigue is definitely a thing and those of us who cook will experience it. I get fed up with not just cooking but thinking of what to cook. It is warming up here in Australian so salads with some form of protein will soon be a staple. Whenever I think, yes I have had enough of this, let’s go out, I stop, take a deep breath and it then turns to no, keep going as the money we would use to go out can be put towards our yearly month long overseas holiday 😊
So true!
Love to you all and sweet puppies
Hope you’re feeling more like yourself by now. 💐
Thanks
😅 Would I have gone down the family route all those years ago, if I had realised it meant, all that planning, prep and clearing up, probably not; but here we are plodding on, food fatigue is real, and now we are staring down an energy price increase, loss of heating allowance and apparently only 98 days to bl**** Chr*******, oh joy, oh well moan over, kitchen here I come, waste not, want not. TTFN x
@@AnnetteCulley I’ve mixed feelings about the heating allowance. I really feel that the pension is much too low and really should be higher. The heating allowance? That should be paid to all pensioners just on the state pension should get the heating allowance but paid by the energy companies.
I totally agree with you Jane, it's just when you feel a bit down and you get news like this, you just think WHAT NOW, in the meantime, I have rejigged the budget, moved a bit here and there, you know how it is; we will be alright, thanks to your sensible advice , we have savings and sinking funds. We have been broke, we are not now, and the mortgage is paid off so, we will have another cup of tea and keep smiling (even if occasionally through gritted teeth)😊
Cooking fatigue hits frequently, especially as I also make MIL meals (101 years old still lives independently with our help). So if im using the oven I make at least 2 different meals. Great seeing all the reduced stickers on your ingredients, I love a bargain.
Thanks for sharing!
Love to see the pups!
Everything looked so tasty 😊. I have always loved cooking and that came in handy raising 3 kids but now that they are all grown and have their own places sometimes I find cooking for just the 2 of us a chore which is wierd. I do some batch cooking and it does save time and also money on those days when I can't be hothered but I think watching you that I need to up my game 😅. Great video 😊
Thank you
Oh Jane, I am right there with you. Tired of trying to be creative. I am emptying my refrigerator and it's freezer over the next month, to completely empty. We will be on an extended trip an don't want to risk anything spoiling if we have a power outage. I pulled out grape leaves from the freezer, and 1/2 pound of ground turkey and 2 beef patties, and chives from the refrigerator and a cup of rice and greek herbs, some granulated garlic. I rolled that mix into the leaves filling my crockpot halfway up, poured 2 quarts of chicken stock over them and a 1/3 cup of lemon juice and let it cook on high for 4 hours. Glad I struggled through doing it, because I woke with a toothache today and by time I finished harvesting my last bed of celery from the garden and got it washed and chopped and put away, my toothache was intense. So root canal in my future, my husband has food for a few days, while I sip on broth😊. Your menu ideas look delicious 😋, but for the next few weeks, it'll be a liquid diet for me. Thank goodness hubby has pasta leftovers for tonight and grape leaves for the days after.
Thanks for sharing
Since my husband retired, I gradually lost the ability to fry things properly, except eggs. So I just hand him the spatula and do something else. It is more the 'deciding what to cook' that gets me. And the dishes. I HATE doing dishes. I have leftover lentil soup, pasta sauce, minestrone in the freezer, and pressure canned beef stew, chicken with vegetables and a sweet and sour cabbage with sausage that I made big batches of, in the pantry. Your dishes look so appetizing....I really miss the cheese and butter that just takes things over the top.
Thanks so much
Everything looked so delicious. You ARE industrious. If I make one large batch of something in a day I am proud of myself. I am not a fan of cooking.
Thanks so much
Thanks for the video. I sure do get cooking fatigue! Mmmm might try a Shepard pie for the freezer(never froze one before. ) Will add to my batch cooking list. Cream soups might be a try too. Have a nice rest now and enjoy what is left of your day.
Sounds great!
Great video🎉
Thank you 😁
Great meal prep Jane, can I ask what size is your instant pot. Heather
No idea sorry, didn't they came in different sizes.
I made a pasta Norma (eggplant cooked in airfryer,) had yesterday for lunch, today for dinner and Sunday for dinner
Sounds great!
@@FrugalQueeninFrance was delicious
Yes!!!! I hit that plateau about two weeks ago and I’m a lot older than you.
I get cooking fAtigue all of the time😅. Thank you for the validation that it is ok.
Any time!
I totally get the cooking fatigue! I have health issues and nothing tastes right. My hubby is a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I end up cooking something he will eat and something I can eat. I'm tired a lot of the time and this gets overwhelming.
You're right
My health does not allow me to cook for a whole day. But, when I do cook, I make a double or triple batch, then freeze the leftovers.
Sorry to hear that
I definitely get kitchen fatigue. not so much for cooking as for cleaning up after! My concern right now is that after working from home for 8 years my employer is requiring me to go back to the office at least 3 days a week at the end of October. You've given me some good ideas for batch cooking in order to have easy dinners ready when I get home from the office, so thanks for this video. I was wondering...do you reuse the foil pans you used for the cottage pie and shepherd's pie?
Yes I do.
Congrats on getting all your make ahead meals…you and Mike will definitely enjoy them later😊
I hope so too!
We have been batch cooking for about 8 years now. We have about 12 meals that we eat on rotation - amazingly we don’t get bored of them - we eat them 4 nights a week, eat at my mother and father in laws once a week and try different things of a weekend. It saves us so much money and time xx
That sounds good
@@joannereynolds69 what are some of your 12 meals? I need ideas 💡
@@ainemurphy4607 the usual easy things, spaghetti bolognaise, chilli con carne, sweet n sour chicken, paella, ginger and prawn fried rice, lamb rogan josh, classic chicken curry, lasagne, cottage pie, mousakka, chicken jalfrezi, smoky sausage and bean casserole, creamy chicken curry, Mexican sausage pie - nothing fancy - all can be frozen - we double the recipes and usually end up with 8 meals of each which we rotate xx
My husband passed away last month. I’m having a hard time adjusting to cooking for one and to not having to follow his "can’t eat the same protein two days in a row" rule. I have a lot of soups in the freezer, but they are all in quart size containers. I’ll need to adjust that to pint size servings as time goes on. My freezers and pantry are very well stocked, so I need to just eat out of those for a good long while. I really need to get back to meal planning, too, because I’ve been quite lazy about it and have been eating out too much over the last 6-8 weeks while he was in the hospital.
My condolences on your loss. Please take care of yourself, and comfort food will help. Best.
Sorry for your loss
@@lindabudzik9583 , so sorry for your loss. 🙏🏻💐
Definitely get sick of cooking, I’m 70 and been cooking since I was a child, I do not like take away food so just carry on, I always make extra so often have meals in the freezer for wen I can’t be bothered, an omelette and salad is one of my lazy day meals nice and quick and easy
Thanks for sharing!!
Yes, I cook all my meals. Cooking for 1 is a bit of a challenge sometimes - you may have lots of leftovers or - don't make a certain dish because you have to buy a 4-serving size of an item rarely used but you only need 1 serving. I have a small garden and I enjoy eating what I grow. The plus side of cooking my own meals is I think my food tastes better :-). I do cook extra to freeze for a future meal sometimes too!
Great idea!
Amen daily for me.
I tried a simply cook box (because the first one was free) you get the herbs and spices in little tubs. You have to add meat & vegetables but all the recipes I chose have very basic ingredients. Lots of the meals are gluten free and cook within 20 minutes. Each recipe made 4 portions. I then tried to cancel my subscription and got 50% off my next 4 boxes (costing £5 per box). The meals were different from anything I usually cook because I don’t want to buy loads of ingredients for 1 recipe. A couple of examples were beef rendang and Balinese chicken
That's great
total admiration
I cook all my meals at home, as well. Maybe only eat out 2-3 times a year. And I would 100% get cooking fatigue if not for my occasional batch-cooking days for freezer meals. This weekend I'm planning to make more bean and veggie burritos I can freeze individually in the freezer. Works great for a quick lunch in the middle of the work day when I don't have easy leftovers for lunch.
Love that!
Cooking fatigue..sliced tomatoes on toast..lovely favorite. Not pretty but very tasty.
I get really sick of cooking for just myself...ugh.i miss cooking for my family,esp my husband.
Sorry for your loss
I definitely get tired of cooking. My older son is autisic with sensory disorders. My husband and younger son are picky too ( probably some sensory issues, also). When I branch out on recipes, chances are they won't want to eat it, and it gets very boring to cook for them. Freezer meals help though.
Thanks for sharing!!
We try (note the word try!!) to batch cook monthly,so Monday to Friday is catered for,and it’s freezer to microwave and easy.
Only leaves Saturday and Sunday to mix it up a bit!!!!
Once we move to France will be interesting to see if we can stick to it
@@petebartlett2229 thanks so much for watching
@@FrugalQueeninFrance love your videos,I feel inspired to do better
Cooking for one half the time I can't be bothered but when I do cook try to get stuff in the freezer or eat the same thing for a few days
When I get like this, I throw something in the crockpot overnight.
Thanks
I would love to batch cook but I am hopeless at the defrosting/cooking from frozen and knowing what should be completely defrosted before cooking how long it will take to defrost and how to reheat properly. Any tips would be useful. Love the channel.
I don't overthink anything, just take it out partly defrost and cook it or reheat it thoroughly
👋👍💐
I've always thought I cook home made. One of our family has developed a serious tree nut allergy. In looking at ingredients, oh my. Sauces and additives are full of allergens. So I'm now making everything from scratch, sauces, herbs etc. Had no idea what was in food.
@@cindiblazer8621 that's why most of us cook from scratch.
@@FrugalQueeninFrance When I say scratch, I mean scratch, I don't even buy bread, I make it , a lot of work, I want my family safe.
That’s the only way to make sure you know what you’re eating.
You’ll save a ton of money, too.
@@LauraMacMillan-el2kc my initial start up will cost a little. I'm purging all canned sauces and spices out of my home. The fillers in this stuff is awful.
100% spot on Jane! I also cook from scratch and get fed up some days, especially when I am into a sewing project and must stop to cook....arrgghh so I take 1 day and cook at least 10 different meals for the freezer. Good job Jane so glad I am not the only one that just gets sick of cooking everyday
So true!
I have a fussy eater so l have to make two types of food , batch cooking is a drag making the food l enjoy can be difficult and getting food bargains is must as we are long retired on basic pension ,so it's a way of life for me ,you are right about the effort it takes to produce even basic meals .have a good weekend and thankyou 😊
Thanks for watching
I hate cooking so much. I’ve been doing it most days for over 40 years and have hated every single day of it. The days I don’t cook I prepare the day before as I work 12 hour shifts. I prefer cooking now that I’m a widow as my late husband was so fussy but still hate it. I really resent the amount of time I have spent cooking over the years. I wish I didn’t care about my health and ate ready meals etc. I know it’s a first world problem but would rather clean up poo (which I spend a lot of time doing in my work in healthcare) than cook 😂 😂
Oh mom you didnt add love to this dish.....my reply eat spoonfull of A🤯
Jane I cooked with you. 😅
That's nice of you